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King's Row 1942 -Ronald Reagan, Robert Cummings, Ann Sheridan, Claude Rains

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The dark side and hypocrisy of provincial American life is seen through the eyes of five
children as they grow to adulthood at the turn-of-the-century.
Director: Sam Wood
Writers: Casey Robinson
(screen play), Henry Bellamann (from the novel by)
Stars: Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan | See full
cast & crew »


Summaries
Five children in an apparently ideal American
small town find their lives changing as the years pass near the turn of the century in 1900. Parris and Drake, both of
whom have lost their parents, are best friends; Parris dreams of becoming a doctor, studying under the father of his
sweetheart Cassie, while Drake plans on becoming a local businessman when he receives his full inheritance - juggling
girlfriends in the meantime. As they become adults, the revelations of local secrets threaten to ruin their hopes and
dreams.

—scgary66
Forbidden desires and long-suppressed family secrets are part of the dark
underbelly of provincial life in middle-America at the turn-of-the-century as seen through the eyes of five children
growing into adulthood. One of them, Parris Mitchell, pursues his interest in the newly emerging field of psychiatry and
uses his knowledge to overcome tragic personal losses as well as the hypocrisy and bigotry of his small town home in
order to help his childhood friends.

—Gabe Taverney ([email protected])
Boyhood friends
Parris Mitchell and Drake McHugh have grown up together in the town of Kings Row. Parris wants to be a doctor and his
grandmother arranges for him to be to be tutored by Dr. Alexander Tower, something of a recluse who seems to have no
patients. Parris knew his daughter Cassie when they were young but Dr. Tower home-schooled her from a young age. Now
young adults, they fall madly in love but tragedy strikes just as Parris is about to set off for Vienna to begin medical
school. Drake is a happy go lucky sort, handsome with many of the local girls chasing after him and he them. He's
particularly fond of Louise Gordon, daughter of the town's other doctor, Henry Gordon. Her parents dislike the
young Drake and refuse him permission to call on their daughter, which drives Louise to the brink of madness. When Drake
has an accident, Dr. Gordon exacts a sadistic revenge leaving it to Parris and another childhood friend, Randy Monaghan,
to pull Drake back from the edge.

—garykmcd
The dark side and hypocrisy of provincial American
life is seen through the eyes of five children as they grow to adulthood at the turn-of-the-century.

—Gabe Taverney [email protected])

Spoilers
The synopsis below may give away
important plot points.
Synopsis
KIngs Row in the 1890's is a good clean place to live and raise a family,
according to a sign at the edge of town. Parris Mitchell was orphaned at an early age and lives with his grandmother.
His best friend is Drake McHugh, who is also orphaned and lives with his aunt. His other best friend is Cassandra Tower.
Cassie's father is a doctor but does not practice his profession. Her mother is rarely seen and spends all her time
in an upstairs bedroom. After school one day, Cassie and Parris go swimming in the pond, stripping to their underwear.
But Cassie says they shouldn't do it again as her strict father would take a switch to her.

Parris
agrees to come to Cassie's birthday party, only Louise Gordon, daughter of the town doctor, is having her own party
the same day. Only a few children show up at Cassie's party. She is in tears and Parris tries to comfort her. But
she asks him to leave. He sees Mrs. Tower looking out her window and tries to talk to her. But Dr. Tower intercepts him
and says Mrs. Tower is too ill to see anyone. Parris politely thanks him for the party and shakes hands. Not long after,
Cassie reveals that her father is taking her out of school. Parris doesn't understand why and neither does Cassie,
who says her father is going to teach her himself.

Parris and Drake see a younger boy sitting on the front
steps of his home, crying loudly. When they ask what's wrong, the boy says that Dr. Gordon is going to operate on
his father, who has ulcers on his legs. Just then the children hear a terrible scream coming from the house. Because his
father has heart disease, according to Dr. Gordon, anesthesia cannot be used. Parris and Drake run away when they hear
another scream.

Years pass and Parris is home from college. While taking a walk in the countryside, he runs
into Drake driving a buggy. His passengers are the Ross sisters, Jinny and Poppy. They have bad reputations and Parris
turns down an offer from Drake to join them. He is going to see Dr. Tower, who is now a widower. Before he can study
medicine in Vienna, as his grandmother wishes, he must pass the entrance examinations. Dr. Tower has agreed to tutor
him. When he arrives at the Tower place, Cassie lets him in. She seems almost frightened and points him to her
father's study. Dr. Tower is barely cordial and instructs Parris to use the outside door in the study to come and
go so he won't have to go through the house. Parris wants to ask about Cassie and why her father won't let her
go anywhere. But he loses his nerve.

Parris comes to know Dr. Tower and finds him to be intelligent and wise.
The tutoring is hard and Parris spends many nights studying. Drake continues to see the Ross girls but confides that he
is really in love with Louise Gordon. But her parents disapprove because he is a playboy. His aunt has died and left him
a trust fund but he has too much time on his hands. Drake decides to confront Louise's parents and insists that
Parris come along. Louise loves Drake but is reluctant to marry him partly because of the Ross girls and partly because
he isn't wealthy. After a nasty scene with her parents, Drake storms out.

Unknown to Parris, his
grandmother is suffering from cancer. However, he knows she is ill. Dr. Gordon has a bad reputation for performing
unnecessary surgery. Parris consults the town attorney, Colonel Skeffington, to ask if there is any truth to the rumors
about Dr. Gordon. If so, he doesn't want him treating his grandmother. The Colonel assures Parris that as far as
his grandmother is concerned, Dr. Gordon is acting in a correct manner.

Parris sees Cassie several times and
knows how unhappy she is, but she won't tell him why her father literally keeps her under lock and key. Then one
night he stops by and Cassie is alone. Her father is on a business trip and won't be back for several days. It is
hinted that the two had sex that night. Later on, Parris stops by Drake's house and his friend guesses what has
happened.

Parris learns the truth about his grandmother and that she won't live much longer. After her
death, he goes to stay with Drake until it is time to leave for Vienna. Then Cassie comes by, wild and incoherent. She
begs Parris to take her with him to Vienna, that she can't stay at home any longer. Parris agrees but then once
again, Louise runs off. Drake and Parris go to the Tower home but nothing seems amiss. Dr. Tower is sitting on the front
porch and Cassie comes to the door, at which point he goes inside.

The next morning, Parris learns that
Cassie and her father are both dead. He poisoned her and shot himself. Parris believes it is his fault because Dr. Tower
must have found out about him and Cassie. Drake goes to the Tower home to see what he can find out but insists that
Parris stay behind. The sheriff and other officials are going through Dr. Tower's papers. On learning that
Cassie's bags were packed, indicating that she planned to leave home, Drake says he was the one Cassie was going to
run away with. He wants to keep Parris's name out of it.

To Parris's shock, Dr. Tower left him his
estate. He doesn't understand why until he finds a notebook left for him by the doctor. Cassie's mother was
insane and had been for years before her death. Now Dr. Tower was noticing those same traits in Cassie. He decided it
was better to kill his daughter before she could marry Parris and make him as miserable as Mrs. Tower had made him.
Apparently he had known of the secret meetings between Parris and Cassie.

When Parris leaves on the train,
Drake sees him off and runs into Randy Monaghan, a childhood friend from the wrong side of the tracks. She was wild as a
girl but has grown into a beautiful, respectable woman. She lives in a house by the railroad tracks with her father and
brother, who both work for the railroad. Drake is attracted to her and they start going on buggy rides together. But she
warns him that she won't marry him because they are from different social classes.

While Parris is in
Vienna, Drake learns that a bank official has absconded with his trust fund money, as well as money belonging to others.
Suddenly penniless, Drake sells his aunt's house and gets a job with the railway company. Randy's father helps
him get it. Then, on a dark and rainy night, Drake has an accident at work and injures his legs. Dr. Gordon is called
from a party to attend him. Louise is hysterical and wants to go with him for she still loves Drake. But her parents
won't permit it. At the shack where Drake was carried, Dr. Gordon says his legs are so badly injured that they must
be amputated. No one questions his decision, but when he arrives home, Louise is waiting. She heard what happened and
accuses her father of malpractice, not only on Drake but many others. As her hysteria grows, she declares that she is
going to tell everyone about what he has done. Her father threatens to have her committed to the insane asylum. Knowing
he can do it, she promises to keep silent.

Drake is taken to the Monaghan house to recuperate and is
unconscious for several days. Randy's father and brother Todd know she wants to keep him there and they agree. A
special delivery letter is sent to Parris in Vienna. When Drake finally wakes up, he screams out "Where is the rest
of me?"

Parris has done so well in Vienna that he is offered a position in the hospital there. He
intends to accept it until he gets Randy's letter. Knowing that his friend needs him now, he leaves for Kings'
Row. Drake and Randy are married by the time he returns home and Drake is resigned to spending the rest of his life in
bed. But Parris has no intention of letting that happen. He gives Drake and Randy his inheritance from Dr. Tower so they
will have an easier time and begins to encourage Drake to take an interest in life again. Once Drake is on the road to
recovery, Parris intends to return to Vienna.

On learning that Dr. Gordon recently died, Parris decides to
stay in Kings Row so its citizens won't be without a doctor. To his surprise, Mrs. Gordon sends for him. Since
Drake's accident, Louise has spent most of her time in bed. She refused to attend her father's funeral. Mrs.
Gordon reveals that on the night her husband died, she found Louise standing over his body cursing him. She believes the
girl is insane and wants Parris to treat her. Parris talks to Louise in her bedroom and learns a shocking fact. Louise
believes Drake's amputation was totally unnecessary, as well as many other operations he performed which left the
patients maimed. She wants Parris to help her tell the townspeople. He tries to dissuade her, pointing out that even if
it is true her father cannot be brought to justice. She is so insistent that he agrees. Over time he tries to interest
her in books and art, but she is set on avenging Drake.

Randy has an idea that she and Drake should use their
money to buy property and build low-cost homes for working people. Parris encourages this and tells them they should
build a home for themselves. But Drake suddenly hates the whole idea and makes Randy promise that he will never have to
leave his bedroom. Later, Parris tells Randy that these outbursts are to be expected and in time will go away. Randy
says that her brother bought Drake a wheelchair but he wouldn't use it.

While taking a walk near his old
home, Parris meets Elise Sandor. She and her father bought the house two years earlier. He is instantly taken with Elise
and goes home with her. He meets her father and stays for dinner, after which he and Elise play the piano. Now that he
has met Elise, Parris feels better about staying in Kings Row.

A hysterical Louise comes to the Monaghan home
demanding to see Drake. Parris happens to be there and she lashes out, accusing him of not doing anything to help her
cause of going public about her father. Randy is horrified to learn the truth and Parris tells her never to say anything
to Drake. He believes if his friend knows, he will give up altogether. After Louise leaves, Randy's brother reveals
that he knew one of the men who had assisted Dr. Gordon with Drake's surgery. That man said there were no injuries
that he could find to Drake's legs.

Parris now wants to silence Louise as he is afraid Drake will learn
the truth. He decides to have her committed to an insane asylum and writes the necessary letter. But before mailing it,
he discusses the situation with Elise. She wants him to leave Louise alone and let her say what she will. She also
thinks he is too close to Drake to be his doctor and maybe what he wants for Drake is not the right thing. Parris asks
if she will go back to Vienna with him and she agrees but it is obvious she is not happy about it. Suddenly he gets up
and leaves, promising to return if what he has in mind works out. Bursting into Drake's bedroom, he tells him the
truth; that Dr. Gordon amputated his legs unnecessarily, out of revenge for his interest in Louise. To his utter shock,
Drake bursts out laughing. He and Randy embrace and he agrees to move into a new house. Parris returns to Elise's
house, where she comes running across the lawn to meet him. They embrace.

[center]9/10
One OF
Hollywood's Finest Hours!
jpdoherty16 September 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Warner Bros. KINGS ROW
(1942) is ,without doubt, one of Hollywood's most enduring and best loved cinema classics from its Golden Age!
Produced by Hal Wallis it was crisply photographed by ace Cinematographer James Wong Howe in glorious black & white
and contains one of the finest musical scores ever wedded to a film soundtrack. Also, like his work on "Gone With
The Wind" Production Designer William Cameron Menzies brought the small town setting of KINGS ROW to vivid life and
director Sam Wood ensured Menzies approach was adhered to with his stylish direction.

Based on the
controversial novel by Henry Bellamann it is quiet astonishing that KINGS ROW ever went before the cameras at all! The
story revolves around three children growing into adulthood in a small American mid - western town just before the turn
of the 20th century and their exposure to all manner of human excesses, frailties and shortcomings. The book is peppered
with a plethora of taboo subjects (especially for the forties) such as nymphomania, incest, insanity, sadism, and
homosexuality. But brilliant screen writer Casey Robinson ("Now Voyager") managed, by some miracle, to
skillfully skirt around these problems, defuse and avoid any elaborations and viewing the finished film it is difficult
to decipher any of the character weaknesses Bellamann wrote about.

The cast is reasonably good! Top billed is
the lovely Ann Sheridan as the feisty and endearing Randy Monaghan. It is her finest performance and the best film she
ever did! Surprisingly the usually wooden Ronald Reagan turns in a more than passable performance as the somewhat
carefree ladies man Drake McHugh. And he is most convincing in the startling scene where he awakens to discover both his
legs have been amputated and screaming repeatedly "WHERE'S THE REST OF ME?" (a line the actor would use
later for the title of his autobiography in 1965). The weakest link in the cast is Robert Cummings (borrowed from
Universal) as the leading protagonist Parris Mitchell! His one note performance reduces the character to nothing more
than an uninteresting over prim and prissy bore. Cummings retains nothing of the likable personality already established
early in the picture by the delightful portrayal of child actor the ill-fated Scotty Beckett as the young Parris.
Excellent too is Claude Rains as Dr. Towers and Parris' mentor, Betty Field as his deranged daughter, Charles
Coburn as the sadistic doctor, the great Russian actress Maria Ouspenskaya as Parris' grandmother and her good
friend Col. Skeffington played by the always likable Harry Davenport ("When she passes ...how much passes with
her?....a whole way of life, a way of gentleness... of dignity and honour. These things are going and they may never
come back to this world".) A prophetic observation no doubt!

One of the great strengths of KINGS ROW is
the outstanding operatic music score composed and conducted by the great Viennese composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Korngold's genius as a motion picture composer was not limited only to scoring action spectaculars like "The
Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) and "The Sea Hawk" (1940) for he could, with no difficulty, underscore such
character driven dramas as "Between Two Worlds" (1944), "Deception" (1946) and KINGS ROW with equal
aplomb! Besides "The Sea Hawk" KINGS ROW is his finest achievement and of his 18 scores was his own personal
favourite! His leitmotific approach to scoring could often be quite stunning and never more so than with KINGS ROW . The
score is just chock-a-block with exquisite themes! Heard first under the titles is the powerful main theme. Brimming
with bravura brass fanfares the music is decidedly heroic! The composer hadn't yet viewed the film when the
magnificent piece was first conceived. And thinking the story concerned historical royalty because of its title imbued
the theme with a distinctive monarchical flavour. However when he saw the script and learnt
the film was set in small-town USA he offered to change it but Hal Wallis liked it so much he persuaded the composer to
retain the piece and a blessing it is too. Heard in different guises throughout the picture it is particularly engaging
as a scherzo variation near the film's opening as the young Parris Mitchell and Cassandra Towers skip home by the
river after school. Other superb cues are the poignant theme for the grandmother, the melancholy music for Cassie's
ill attended birthday party, the frolicsome variation of the main theme for the children playing on the rings in
Elroy's Icehouse, the ravishing theme for Randy and the Finale music - a reiteration of the main theme - which
bursts forth upon us near the end but this time with a mixed chorus intoning a line from W. E. Henley's poem
"Invictus" - I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE - I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL. A marvellous soulful and uplifting
finish to a marvellous film! 

KINGS ROW - a work of cinematic art! 

"Now...if you turn your
face to that wall!"

An interesting footnote:

It is notable that Korngold's main theme
from KINGS ROW was used for both of Ronald Reagan's inaugurations!
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The Unbearable Complexity of Being
Tipu28 July 1999
I have never
been to America, but this movie seems so familiar. It reminds me so much of the apartment building I grew up in
Calcutta. Maybe because people everywhere are essentially the same, or maybe because every character in this movie is a
carefully thought out archetype. The Good Grandson who is the apostle of virtue, the Sacrificing Best Friend, the Spunky
Girl, the men who live on the wrong side of the tracks but are still nobler than the rich old townspeople, the Old Man
with Something to Hide, the Evil Man with an Honorable Facade, etc. In fact just the crowd u'd meet anywhere u
live. That's what, I feel, gives this movie its timelessness. Add to it James Wong Howe's lustrous b&w
photography like an old family photo polished everyday by the doting old maid, the assured editing that pieces together
scenes straddling across time [Parris, the good little boy to Parris the good young man] & space [Americana to
Vienna, like the new year msg in Parris' letter from Vienna dissolving into another msg scratched out on the snow
in King's Row], Sam Wood's confident direction [he had done 'Our Town' too] & brilliant all
round acting. Reagan blew my mind & so did Anne Sheridan. Wish Robert Cummings was less wimpy, but you can't
take it all, can you?

A great movie, see it!
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Classic, with Reagan's Question, "Where's the Rest of Me?"
Ben
Burgraff (cariart)22 February 2004
Warning: Spoilers
KING'S ROW, based on Henry Bellamann's
huge, "unfilmable" novel, served as a showcase for many of Warner Brothers' rising stars of 1942, and has
achieved 'classic' status over the years. It provided Ronald Reagan with his finest performance (he even
entitled a pre-Presidential autobiography "Where's the Rest of Me?", from his most famous line of dialog
from the film), moved Ann Sheridan to the "A-List" of WB stars, and offered one of the most memorable musical
themes in film history, by composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

The story of a group of children growing up in a
small community prior to the turn of the century, and the adults they would become, screenwriter Casey Robinson infuses
the youngsters' escapades with an innocence that makes their actions (performing acrobatics in their underwear in a
freight car, a nude 'dip' in a local pond) seem sweet, not naughty. The 'leader' of the children,
Drake McHugh (Douglas Croft/Ronald Reagan) is a rich, likable rogue, popular with girls, but most devoted to his best
friend, serious Parris Mitchell (Scotty Beckett/Robert Cummings), a gifted piano student living with his grandmother
(the remarkable Maria Ouspenskaya), who dreams of someday becoming a doctor. The girls in their lives are Randy Monaghan
(Ann Todd/Ann Sheridan), a good-hearted girl from the 'wrong side of the tracks'; Louise Gordon (Joan
Duvalle/Nancy Coleman), boy-crazy, and the most popular girl in town; and mysterious Cassandra 'Cassie' Tower
(Mary Thomas/Betty Field), who Parris secretly adores, the daughter of the reclusive Dr. Tower (Claude Rains). After a
disastrous party that only Parris and a few 'undesirables' attend (everyone else opts for a party at
Louise's home), the heartbroken Cassie is yanked from school and isolated, under suspicious circumstances, by Dr.
Tower. Parris grows to adulthood, still carrying a torch for his 'lost love'.

With the children
'grown up', the major story lines begin. Parris studies medicine with Dr. Tower, prior to college in Vienna,
and meets Cassie again; despite her bizarre behavior and paranoia, the pair renew their chaste affair, which ends in
tragedy and death (mental illness is given as the reason in the film; in the book, incest was the cause). After Parris
leaves for Vienna, Drake is swindled out of his fortune, becoming a hard-drinking bum until he is 'redeemed'
by Randy, and begins working with her family at the train yards. One night, crates fall on Drake, and when the doctor
(Charles Coburn), the father of Louise Gordon (who Drake supposedly 'deflowered'), arrives, the old physician
sees an opportunity to extract revenge, and amputates both of Drake's legs. Knowing her father had unnecessarily
'punished' Drake unhinges Louise, and the anxious Randy, spiritually and physically crippled Drake, and
schizophrenic Louise all await the return of Parris, now a certified physician specializing in psychiatry, from Vienna.
Upon his shoulders would lie everyone's redemption and recovery.

Despite an overly earnest performance
by Cummings (with some of the most flowery dialog ever recorded on film), KINGS ROW works, thanks to the wonderful
performances of Reagan and Sheridan. The ending still packs a wallop, even after sixty years, and is truly moving. 

This is a film NOT to be missed!
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this
A truly classic masterpiece from Hollywood's golden age!
DommyCommy5728 February 2005
Kings Row
in my opinion is one of the greatest motion pictures ever made. Why it wasn't it on the American Film Institutes
100 films of all time is beyond me and another weird thing why wasn't its star the beautiful and talented Ann
Sheridan among their greatest stars of all time is another crime. Ronald Reagan gives the performance of his entire
career. The rest of the cast is first-rate as well. Robert Cummings is good but is the weakest character for me. Betty
Field is very good in her small part. The supporting cast which includes Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Maria Ouspenkaya
and Kaaren Verne are all sensational. The music and the cinematography are incredible. Sam Wood directed a truly Gothic
melodrama. The black and white photography is so gloriously rich. I am waiting anxiously for this to come out on DVD. In
1942 this film should have gotten a lot of nominations and won some. Best picture, actor, actress, director, supporting
actor, supporting actress and screenplay and also cinematography and musical score. I think it did actually get a best
picture nomination come to think of it. If you never saw this film, you must look out for it and Ann Sheridan in her
finest hour.
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 9/10
Quite
marvelous
arturus2 December 2007
I've only recently seen this film in its entirety (after decades of
watching the clip of Ronnie Reagan's best scene in it) and am totally surprised by how fine this film really is; in
fact, when it ended, I found myself wanting to burst into applause. But to appreciate it you must put yourself into the
time it was made, mid- to late 1941. This picture was meant to be an "A" picture (that is, the first picture
to be shown on a double bill, or the only film being shown) showcasing the up and coming generation of Warners actors.
None of the young players was particularly well-known, except in supporting roles. The older players were all familiar
to film, theater and radio audiences. Radio, since radio drama was a major national venue then and all of these older
players, in fact, most major stars, had starring roles in radio plays.

This picture would have been shown in
its first run in the chain of theaters owned by Warners, mostly large ones, and shown in a large house, holding an
audience of a thousand people or more, with a very large screen yards wide and high and a sound system that was louder
and definitely more "high fidelity" than any member of the audience had at home or had heard anywhere else.


The book on which the film was based had been a scandalous best seller two years before and many if not most
had read it (people read books then!) and in fact many in the audience were probably alive when this film takes place,
in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th. Everyone would have been familiar with the
style of dialogue and acting, which seems stilted to us, since it originated on the stage, with no microphones; the
costumes, customs and speech would have been in living memory for many watching it in its first run, if not theirs, then
their parents'.

As for Korngold's superb score, this too was a familiar part of a theatrical
experience at the time. Most stage plays had live incidental music accompanying them. All major Broadway plays did.
Opera, operetta and vaudeville were all part of the audience's experience, all with live music as part of the
experience, and no one would have found Korngold's score obtrusive, just part of the show and gorgeous to hear. In
fact, Korngold's score for "Robin Hood" in 1938 was premiered live on network radio as a major event,
before the picture opened! 

As for black and white, these films were truly in "black and white" on
the big screen. Blacks WERE black and whites were silvery white. We see then on video screens, and so far, even with the
best of those, these films look to be in "gray and grayer", with not the high contrast they had in the
theater. So we dismiss them as flat and lifeless; in the theater, black and white has quite a lot of depth and
sparkle.

So in its proper context, this film is really quite astonishingly good. The production design is by
the same man who designed the look of "Gone With the Wind", so there are the gorgeously composed shots, the
depth of field, use of light and shadow and attention to detail in that film. Even the landscapes, matte paintings that
so many of them are, most have looked quite beautiful projected large. The acting is all first rate. All the actors, in
their late twenties and early thirties, are playing younger than their ages. Cummings has the right wide eyed innocence
of an only child reared in relative isolation by his grandmother, Sheridan is beautiful and true, Reagan lively and
cocky, and Field, the disturbed adolescent. Reagan is the real surprise here; totally unaffected, he acts effortlessly
here on film, building a character, listening to the actors in the scene and reacting in the moment. And his best
scenes, "THAT" one, and the final scene, are excellent.

And when it ends, with a flourish those
audiences would have found entirely familiar and even comforting, I can imagine an audience of a thousand bursting into
prolonged applause.
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 9/10
Where's The Rest of Me?
krorie6 April 2006
For those who made fun of President Reagan's movie
career by always citing "Bedtime for Bonzo" and laughing may be surprised if they take the time to watch
"Kings Row." Even "Bedtime for Bonzo" is not as bad as those who have never seen it think it is,
because of the ridiculous title. The former sports announcer plays Drake McHugh as well or better than any other
Hollywood actor of the period could have. He stands tall among an extremely talented group of actors, including several
others who have also been underrated and never received their due by the Hollywood establishment, especially Bob
Cummings and Ann Sheridan. There's also Judith Anderson of "Rebecca" fame; Claude Rains who first made a
name for himself in a part were he was invisible through most of the film; Charles Coburn, the grand old man of
40's cinema, playing against type in "Kings Row" as not such a grand old man; Maria Ouspenskaya in a
non-horror role; and Betty Field shines as the tortured soul, Cassie.

Sam Wood's magnificent direction
plus the acting keep the story from slipping into soap opera melodrama. True heart-rending sentiment rather than sappy
sentimentality emerges from the social and economic conflicts that mix with human kindness and cruelty in small-town
America at the turn of the last century. Though there is an element of nostalgia for a vanishing America, it never
becomes petty or commonplace.
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9/10
Kings Row- A Welcomed Addition to Any Neighborhood ****
edwagreen25 August 2007
The absolute best
picture that Ronald Reagan ever made. Why wasn't he given better film roles after his impressive performance as
Drake McHugh? Ditto for Bob Cummings. So sad to realize seeing both of them in the scenes of this picture, young and
charming. Unfortunately, both fell victim to Alzheimer's Disease.

The picture is first rate. 1942 seemed
to be a big year that Hollywood spoke about mental illness. Claude Rains also starred in "Now, Voyager" that
dealt with Bette Davis's breakdown following a regimented life with a tormenting mother.

"Kings
Row" deals with schizophrenia. Betty Field did an outstanding job as the doomed Cassie.

The film also
deals with a sadistic surgeon played by Charles Coburn, in a terrific brief dramatic performance. As his wife, Judith
Anderson was at her usual eerie self.

There are so many themes in this film. We see the class differences
among Drake, Dr. Mitchell (Cummings) and in a terrific performance, Ann Sheridan as a girl from the wrong side of the
tracks that shows her devotion to Drake when he has a series of unbelievable misfortunes befall him.

Drake's line "Where's the rest of me," when he awakes to find that his legs have been amputated is
unforgettable.

"Kings Row" was nominated for best picture in 1942. It would take a classic such as
"Mrs. Miniver" to have beaten it out.
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 10/10
A Fine Drama From The Golden Age of Movies
Art La Cues10 January 2005
"Kings
Row" is truly a gem. The acting, photography,direction, script, and memorable score
are outstanding. A number of reviewers have criticized Robert Cummings as not being up to the role of Parris Michell. I
have to disagree. His earnestness and sincerity are what I appreciate in his characterization which is central to the
storyline. Claude Rains, Harry Davenport, Ronald Reagan, and especially Ann Sheridan are outstanding in supporting
roles.

I am not an "old geezer", a phrase used by Ronald Reagan in describing Dr. Gordon, who
appreciates films from the 30's and 40's; unless being 59 qualifies me as such. I find myself viewing this
movie several times a year on tape and Turner Classic Movies. Korngold's theme is truly one of the five top film
themes. This is a sensitive and entertaining movie which stands the test of time.
50 out of 69 found this helpful.
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 10/10
DVD urgently needed
forker1 June 2005
This is a
wonderful film with one of the greatest musical scores Hollywood ever produced. Eric Wolfgang Korngold is a splendid
composer, and this may be his best film score. And the star cast makes the film historically very important. All the
major parts are beautifully done. I especially admire Claude Rains and Charles Coburn as the psychiatrist and the
sadistic surgeon. The scenes at the beginning with the characters as children is also wonderfully nostalgic and evokes
small-town life at the turn of the 20th century effectively. This is Ronald Reagan's best film. It is a disgrace
that this film is not yet available on DVD. It would be a good candidate for inclusion in the Criterion series. When can
we purchase this film on DVD?
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Before 'Peyton Place' there was 'Kings Row'...powerful small-town melodrama studded with great
performances...
Neil Doyle10 April 2001
Kings Row is perhaps the granddaddy of all small-town epics--a strong
story line, an excellent cast and all of it punctuated by one of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's most melodious
background scores. Considering this was done in the early '40s, the subject matter is handled honestly but with the
kind of discretion it would never receive by any of today's filmmakers. Instead, you are asked to connect the
dotted lines on the subject of incest, insanity, sadism and moral corruption behind closed doors and come up with your
own observations. Two outstanding leads are Ann Sheridan (never more heartbreakingly honest and moving as the girl from
the wrong side of the tracks) and Ronald Reagan as the carefree man she loves and sticks by when fate deals him a hard
blow. Robert Cummings is too weak in the central role of Parris--he was always much more suited to comedy than strong
drama. But the rest of the large supporting cast are extremely effective--Nancy Coleman (on the brink of insanity after
her doctor father's horrific act), Judith Anderson, Charles Coburn (as the sadistic doctor), Claude Rains and Betty
Field. Wonderful black and white photography by James Wong Howe, excellent script by Casey
Robinson, meticulous production design by William Cameron Menzies and, of course, that pulsating Korngold score--all
create one of the most powerful films of the '40s. Ann Sheridan was never better--and Ronald Reagan is fully up to
the requirements of a difficult role.
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this
 10/10
Turn of the Century Soap Opera at its best!
mark.waltz3 May 2001
One of the best
remembered films of the 40's, "King's Row" has gotten more attention because of Ronald Reagen's
"Where's the rest of me?" line than anything else in the film. Sixty years later, "King's
Row" as a film holds an important place in American history for more reasons than just a famous line barked by a
future American president.

The central character is Paris Mitchell (Robert Cummings), the epitome of goodness
and virtue. Raised by his loving grandma (Maria Ouspenskaya) in a wealthy home, Paris has been taught to love beyond his
social standing, and ends up giving back to society what his grandmother gave to him. The secondary lead is Drake McHugh
(Reagen), a spunky young man who is Paris's best friend. Paris is sometimes too good to be believed; McHugh is a
full-bodied character, supporting in status, who steals interest away from the lead.

Paris and Drake are
surrounded by characters of all classes, good and bad, who have major impacts on their lives. Dr. Towers (Claude Rains)
is a mysterious doctor (without any patients) who lives as a recluse thanks to the insanity of his wife. Towers'
daughter, Cassie (Betty Field), loves Paris, but Towers does all he can to keep them apart while training Paris to
become a doctor. Then, there is surgeon Dr. Gordon (Charles Coburn), seemingly good on the surface, but filled with a
dark streak on the inside that would ultimately destroy Drake. His wife (Judith Anderson) supports him, but daughter
Louise (Nancy Coleman) is desperately in love with Drake, and would do anything to be with him, even defying her
parents.

A childhood chum, Randi Monahan (Ann Sheridan) is the spunky girl from the other side of the tracks
who grows up to be a beautiful and kind woman. Drake's bankruptcy brings him and Randi together, while Paris goes
off to Europe to study psychiatry after a tragic incident at Dr. Towers' house. During Paris' absence, Drake
has an accident which Dr. Gordon is brought to. That night changes everyone's life forever.

Robert
Cummings is not a poor actor, but certainly not one of the best out of Hollywood. Handsome Cummings tried to change his
image with this film, but was totally outshined by Reagen who proved that with the right preparations, he could be an
excellent actor. I am not a Ronald Reagen fan-politically or as an actor, but he is massively impressive here. His other
film credits were filled with forgettable performances, but this one I must honesty say he was worthy of an Oscar
nomination which he did not receive. Also worthy of a nomination was Ann Sheridan, even though she does not make her
appearance until Paris leaves for Europe. Her strength and devotion to Drake give Sheridan the chance to stretch all of
her acting muscles, and Sheridan does it impressively. Sheridan, unlike her male co-stars, did have a respectable list
of acting credits, and it is a pity that she was never acknowledged during her lifetime for her talents.

As
two different style of doctors, Rains and Coburn give two different styles of performances. Rains is quietly sensitive
and filled with pain as to the torture he feels concerning his wife and daughter; Coburn, on the other hand, has
everything; a wife who loves him, and a seemingly strong daughter. However, once his dark side comes through, Coburn
becomes absolutely hissable. Unlike Rains, whom we sympathize with, Coburn never once wins us over. Such a lovable actor
in other films, he really had a different type of part here, and chews it up like a dog on a fresh steak bone!

Ouspenskaya always gives me chuckles in the wrong places. The scene where young Paris speaks French to her through the
open windows of their home is laughabily over the top. Later, when Ouspenskaya is dying, she expresses such a
over-the-top nobility that on several occasions, I found myself saying, "Would you just die already?"
Wide-eyed Betty Field makes the most of a small part as Cassie Towers; Nancy Coleman's Louise Gordon goes from sane
to psycho in such a short span that I can't help but wish there had been more to fill in what drove her there.
Screen villainess Judith Anderson sadly is underused in her few scenes as Mrs. Gordon. I longed for her to have one
truly evil scene, yet felt sympathy for her when she confided her fears of Louise's insanity to Paris Mitchell.
Small appearances by Harry Davenport and Kaaren Verne are charming, yet undeveloped.

In spite of these
faults, I find "King's Row" remains a favorite of mine, thanks to its delightfully charming yet gaudy
small town atmosphere (reminding me of the small town in Chautaqua County New York I grew up in), the marvelous musical
score, and the simply breathtaking photography. Strongest of all is Sam Wood's direction which makes the film flow
smoothly from one sequence to the next. "King's Row" would have made an excellent daily soap opera, and
in fact did appear briefly in the 50's as a prime time series.
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 10/10
original casting thoughts
mark doyon3 April 2006
Kings
Row was bought by Hal Wallis, then the number two man at WB, Warner Brothers. As there was often trades made between
studios for leading actors and actresses, Wallis originally wanted Tyrone Power to play Drake, and Henry Fonda to play
Parris, but he couldn't talk Darryl Zanuck into it. Ronald Reagan proved his strength as actor in this movie. Bob
Cummings is felt as being weak in his portrayal of Parris. However Parris's character is played with the right
touch of not so much weakness as being naive. Henry Fonda would've brought more intensity to the role, but I'm
not sure he could've brought out the essence of how sheltered a life Parris had lived as child, and later teenager.
That's what Cummings brought to the role.
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 10/10
Subtle touches and clever direction add to the enjoyment!
tdemos18 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Sam Wood, never seemed to get the recognition as a brilliant director, but King's
Row must rank high among his finest works.

There are many subtle touches, especially in his use of background
action. Note the scene in which the bank manager first learns that the bank president may have fled with funds and
leaves Reagan sitting at his desk. As the manager proceeds to the teller's cage, you can still see Reagan flirting
and goofing around with Ann Sheridan in the far left background.

Further in the distance, a horse and
carriage round the corner through the outside window. The result is brilliant. You believe you are in the year 1900.
David Lean could not have done it better.

King's row is filled with such detailed period action shots
and period scenes, yet the sets were clearly constructed on a limited budget. There are scenes of incredible sunsets
with the rolling hills and dales, church steeples, and the buildings of Kings Row in an utterly charming, but evocative
presentation of turn-of-the-century America.

The long, exterior shots seem to be inspired from Gone With The
Wind, indeed, Sam Wood was one of the directors who was called on to finish that movie when the workload became too much
for Victor Fleming.

Note also, the care with how the child actors are matched, in looks and mannerisms, with
their adult actor counterparts. The little girl who plays Randy (Red) as a child is particularly good. Listen for her
laugh when she is sitting on the fence. You actually believe that she might be a very young Ann Sheridan.

Reagan, Cummings, Sheridan, and Claude Rains are all excellent. But my favorite line in the movie is uttered by the
evil Dr. Gordon as he is finishing his meal and slowly looks up and is a bit startled to find that his daughter has
escaped and is present in front of him.

"... Is the party over? (pauses – looks up) Where's
your mother!!?"
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 10/10
My two cent's worth
gerry15913 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Considering the many characters
in Henry Bellamanns novel Kings Row, it's actually amazing that Warner Bros. screen writers came up with an
extremely intelligent version. And a lot that happened in the book , at that time simply could not be brought to the
screen or the film would have turned into Gone With The Wind. In the opening scene where the school children are making
sport of a "dim-witted" student - and it is a fleeting moment on screen - the character was richly drawn in
the novel. Payton Graves only gets his name on a sign where in the book he was very much a part of Kings Row. I point
these things out because Casey Robinson and Warner Bros. really did take great pains to bring to the screen the
sprawling novel. And they did it up brown. Many reviewers here decry the performance of Robert Commings as being weak
but I always thought that he played Parris Mitchell as written in the novel. I didn't know that Warners wanted
Tyrone Power for the Mitchell part and I think he would have added just what the screen play needed but FOX was keeping
their star busy with swash-buckling, technicolor roles then and didn't need any help from Warner Bros, besides Fox
was wary after they loaned Power to MGM for Marie Antoniette and MGM under used him. After that Fox vowed never to loan
him out again. Anyway, I just watched Kings Row and find that it is still intense and my emotions are wrung dry. When I
became older I had a chance to read Kings Row and it really opened my eyes to what was really going on in that town.
Payton Place looks like school playground compared to Kings Row. After reading the book I wanted to pattern my life
after Parris Mitchell and then later on after Larry in The Razor's Edge and finally in collage after the idealistic
young protagonist in The Fountainhead. Alas, I reached none of those goals and just settled into an ordinary life.
Anyway, Kings Row is a kind of masterpiece of a kind.
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Behind half closed curtains
jandesimpson13 September 2003
An interesting TV documentary
on the composer Korngold drew me back to "Kings Row" Although I don't find his scores as arresting as
those of Raksin or as immediately identifiable as Rozsa or Herrmann (Korngold's seem to be in a rather amorphous
Richard Strauss style), I love his music to "Kings Row" which has a glorious lyrical sweep particularly in the
credit section overture. Another reason for watching "Kings Row" today, although a minor one, is to see the
only star who has made it to the White House in his best role and to marvel at how he could have done it - get to the
White House I mean. Let's face it, Ronald Reagan was no great shakes as an actor but he was certainly at his best
here, delivering his great and almost prophetic line, "Where's the rest of me?" as a cry of despair that
certainly convinces. However, Korngold and Reagan are not the main reasons that I sometimes stray back to this film. The
fact is that I am a sucker for Golden Age Hollywood melodrama and I find "Kings Row" just about the darkest of
the genre and certainly one of the most fascinating. I was once taken to task for calling it "the greatest of all
bad films" and although I still stand by this, as it is after all pure hokum, I would rather watch it than a
multitude of intrinsically finer films I could name. In a way it was ahead of its time dealing with come pretty awful
things such as inherited insanity, terminal cancer and sadistic medical practices in a way you would think would be a
turn-off in the commercial cinema. Someone will no doubt put me right but I cannot recall the word "cancer"
being spoken in a film before "Rebecca" and "Kings Row". Admittedly you do not see any of the
gruesome goings on, just the medicines and syringes beside the cancer victim's bed and those faces half glimpsed at
curtained windows of an insane woman and a doctor about to cut into a patient's ulcerated leg without chloroform.
Even the famous leg amputation scene takes place off-stage, cutting off (excuse the dreadful pun) just after the
ubiquitous Hollywood call for "lots of hot water". None the less there is sufficient balance between the
dreadful happenings and human goodness to turn the film into the popular success it undoubtedly was in the early
'40s, the mutual love between the hero (Robert Cummings) and his grandmother, the devotion through times good and
bad of Ann Sheridan to Ronald Reagan and the unassailable friendship between Cummings and Reagan. The passing of seasons
and years is poetically conveyed and there is even one great moment of transformation when a boy crosses a stile and
climbs down the other side a man. What an extraordinary mixed bag it all is! Even the dialogue comes up with a few
surprises. In what other Hollywood film of that time would one character - Claude Rains as the good doctor - say to
another - his pupil, "I seem to be in a vein of epigramatic sententiousness today"! I remember one of my sons
discovering "Kings Row" in his early twenties and declaring it one of the most wonderful films he had ever
seen. I countered this by showing him what I feel to be the greatest film ever about family intrigue set in turn of the
century small town America, Wyler's "The Little Foxes". To my dismay he did not stay the course. It did
not take me long to realise why. "Foxes" is all about adults scheming and tormenting one another. For my son
there was no point of identification. "Kings Row" on the other hand celebrates youthful camaraderie with
liberal doses of the "youth-love-death" cocktail. It was no surprise that he went on to love "Dead Poets
Society" but has expressed no wish to attempt "The Little Foxes" again.
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 9/10
You'll Like Our Town...........Maybe
bkoganbing4 June 2009
Besides providing Ronald Reagan with his career role and the title of his pre-presidential
autobiography, Kings Row is a finely crafted piece of film making by director Sam Wood. The film got Oscar nominations
for Best Picture, Best Director and Best black and white Cinematography for James Wong Howe.

Incredibly
though, the rich musical score that Erich Wolfgang Korngold did was overlooked by the Academy. That's the thing you
will take away from watching the film, even more so than Ronald Reagan's anguished cry of 'where's the
rest of me'.

The story takes place at the turn of the last century with an interlude of ten years from
1890 to 1900 where we see the leads as children first and then as adults. Despite Ronald Reagan getting all the notice
here, he's actually third billed in the cast. Above him are Ann Sheridan and Robert Cummings and it's really
the Cummings character whom the film is centered around.

King's Row is the town these folks inhabit,
purportedly based on Fulton Missouri, the hometown of author Henry Bellamann. This may be set in Missouri, but
don't expect no Tom Sawyer like story. If in fact the novel is based on Bellamann's experiences growing up, he
must have had one Gothic childhood.

Sam Wood assembled an incredible cast of supporting players, like Claude
Rains, Judith Anderson, Charles Coburn, Harry Davenport, Minor Watson, Nancy Coleman, and Kaaren Verne. Coburn and
Anderson are the parents of Coleman and they don't like the fact she's keeping company with Reagan who's
playing the entire Kings Row field. In addition Coburn is a doctor who is also a sadist, he does things like perform
operations without use of anesthetic. I'm sure he had heard of Dr. Morton and his successful use of ether by this
time.

The best in the cast though is Claude Rains, something he usually was in a lot of films. He's
another doctor, totally different from Coburn. He's a famous medical practitioner who has chosen to hide himself
away in this small and obscure town. He's got a wife who never comes out and a daughter who grows up to be Betty
Field who is suddenly and abruptly taken out of school as a child. It's with him who Robert Cummings studies
medicine with to pass the examination and go to school in Europe to become a doctor.

Rains's tragic
story is what sets in motion the rest of the story that climaxes with Reagan's anguished cry. Rains creates such a
mysterious and sad air about him that you think about him more than anyone else in the movie. 

Kings Row begs
comparison to Our Town which is partly set in the generation where the Cummings, Field, Reagan, and Sheridan characters
all grow up. Grover's Corners has its share of tragedies as well as happy times.

Kings Row and Our Town
should be run back to back in order to see what I'm referring to. It's not a bad double bill, in fact quite a
literate one.
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 8/10
Engaging
Drama
kenjha4 August 2007
Sometimes melodramatic but otherwise engaging adaptation of popular novel tracks the
lives of a group of friends in a small town from childhood to adulthood, as they cope with life's challenges. There
are good performances from Cummings as an earnest fellow who wants to become a doctor, Field as a mysterious young woman
he loves, Rains as her domineering father, Reagan, in his finest role, as Cummings' best friend, and the radiant
Sheridan as the former tomboy from the wrong side of the tracks who loves Reagan. Well directed by Wood, helped by the
top-notch cinematography (Howe) and score (Korngold). It beautifully captures the feel of a small town around the turn
of the 20th century.
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 10/10
Reagan Was at his BEST!
whpratt112 June 2004
Viewed this film when it was first shown in NYC and our hearts
went out to the great acting Ronald Reagan performed in this picture. Reagan wanted this role and was in competition
with other great actors who also desired this role, which made Ron work even harder to give an outstanding performance.
Claude Rains,(Dr. Alexander Q. Tower),"The Wolfman",'66, was a famous and great veteran actor of the
screen along with Betty Field (Cassie Tower),"Peyton Place",'57 who gave a great supporting role along
with Maria Ouspenskaya(Madame von Eln), "The Wolfman",'66. This film had a great deal of mystery
surrounding a small town and told the deep horrors of murder, incest and mental illness that was being hidden behind
closed doors. Many of the citizens of the town had many secrets to hide from each other. Robert Cummings played a great
role as a very successful young man trying to become a great doctor. However, Ronald Reagan made this one of his
greatest acting roles, and brought tears to your eyes through out many scenes!
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 10/10
King Row on DVD
eleni12117 December 2005
Does
anyone have any information about when the wonderful film directed by Sam Wood and titled Kings Row (1942) will be
available on DVD? How can we promote the DVD version of fine films that are forgotten by many as the years go by? 

When so much junk comes out on DVD it is a shame that classic films like Kings Row and Welles' The
Magnificent Ambersons and Kazan's America America await justice. 

One would think that films awarded or
acclaimed award winners would be a short list for DVD format. 

Studios really don't think much of their
audiences do they?
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When I had
something amputated.....
gkeith_15 June 2004
Warning: Spoilers
I had to have a mastectomy 6 years
ago on April 7, 1998, upon diagnosis with malignant breast cancer. I was devastated, but had to do it to save my life.
Before the surgery, I kept thinking of Ronald Reagan (Drake) in "King's Row") -- one of my favorite
classic movies of all time. When Drake woke up (from having both his legs amputated) and he asked, "Where's
the rest of me?," it broke my heart.

I also thought my surgeon would make a mistake and remove both
breasts, and I would be a double amputee like Drake. Well, this did not happen, but still I remembered the crooked
doctor from "King's Row."

Before my own surgery, I thought I would say the same thing when I
woke up from the anesthesia. When I woke up, I was exactly like Drake. All I could see were bandages, and I was in a lot
of pain. Only 1 breast was missing, thankfully. I had several pieces of equipment hooked up to me in the recovery room,
but all I could ask was, "Where's the rest of me?"

So now, Ronald Reagan is terminally ill,
and dying soon, according to the internet news I just read. I loved him as Drake in "King's Row", and he
was the inspiration for my courage during my surgery (I have had plenty of other surgeries since then, too).

He is 93 years old. I remember him as a young man in "King's Row", and it will break my heart whenever
I next see that movie.
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 7/10
Noteworthy but Flawed
lewis-5112 September 2010
Many people have already written reviews of this notable
film, so I'll skip the plot summary. Most of the reviews are extremely positive. I'm afraid I can't be as
laudatory, though I did enjoy the movie and it prompted me to write this.

There are some really fine acting
performances. Unlike some, I like Robert Cummings. Yes, he is a bit "one note" as someone wrote, but I think
that makes sense. Cummings has accurately portrayed a believable personality. Yes, I agree that Ronald Reagan was
excellent. He almost becomes the lead role, and that's part of the problem with this movie. Ann Sheridan I would
just say was good, not excellent. She does not deserve to have top billing in this movie. Maybe she was the best known
star of the three main actors at that time, and she was given top billing for that reason. Betty Field as Cassandra was
good, but overacted a bit in a difficult role. Claude Rains was excellent, as usual.

Two other actors deserve
mention, even though they had lesser roles. I thought that the actress who played Louise (Nancy Coleman) was very
convincing. And I thought the performance of Henry Davenport as Skeffington was remarkable. He really seemed to be a
completely authentic lawyer from the 1890s. It's hard to believe that that was someone acting.

The basic
situation and plot were intriguing. Sounds like the novel would be a good read. But the movie disappoints in several
ways.

First, it is disjointed. Too many scenes happen quickly or end abruptly. For example, there is a scene
about half way through where Parris and Duke are reading a journal of Dr. Tower, soon after someone important dies
(don't want to get too specific here). Suddenly Parris says, "but I'm tired." Duke immediately jumps
up and says "I'll get the light." He blows it out and they leave. That's just unreal. It's too
abrupt. It's jarring. This sort of thing happens again and again.

Second, a major love interest of one
of the main characters is introduced with only about 20 minutes to go. That is very awkward and off-putting. A veritable
Deus ex machina.

Third, the movie builds up a major romance and conflict between Parris and Cassandra, only
to have it suddenly resolved barely half way into the movie (again, don't want to get too specific). Really, the
movie should have ended there. It's as if it were really two movies, parts I and II. It would have been better as
two.

Fourth, the character of Randy, played by Ann Sheridan, is very briefly in the beginning of the movie as
a child, then abruptly (there's that word again) reappears about half way through the movie and becomes a major
character.

Fifth, comparatively minor but still jarring, the actresses playing Cassandra (Field) and Randy
(Sheridan) looked amazingly alike. Maybe it would not have been so in color, but in black and white, I was astonished
when Sheridan abruptly appeared in the middle of the movie and seemed to be Cassandra! Was this planned by the director?


So I appreciate the basic story. It's very creative. I appreciate the fine acting. But with so many
flaws, I can rate it no higher than 7.

henry
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Unfaithful to the book but surprisingly compelling
hrd196314 April 2007
Henry
Bellamann's account of small town life at the turn of the twentieth century, with its central themes of incest,
suicide, religious fanaticism, homosexuality, euthanasia and sadism (among other less controversial topics), assured its
best seller status when the book was first published in 1940. When Warner Brothers released its film version two years
later, much of the story's sensational content was altered or eliminated entirely and yet the movie remained
surprisingly compelling. The first part of the film concerns itself primarily with Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings),
the sensitive and idealistic doctor-in-training, and his volatile relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Cassie
(played by Betty Field), and it's less successful because of the films inability to deal honestly with the demons
that haunt Cassie. (The revelation that Cassie is being molested by her father is jettisoned completely and the movie,
instead, settles for the explanation that Cassie is mentally ill. The frantic and desperate interludes that Parris and
Cassie share, however, fevered by a kind of histrionic intensity, don't make much sense within this context and the
viewer is left feeling somewhat bewildered by it all). The second part of the film, which focuses on the other major
love story, that of Parris' best friend Drake (Ronald Reagan) and Randy (Ann Sheridan), the poor girl from the
wrong side of the tracks, is more faithful to Bellamann's novel and altogether more satisfying. There is also a
fascinating subplot, involving Drake's abandoned sweetheart, Louise (Nancy Coleman), that helps to sustain the film
and propel the movie to its dynamic conclusion. Though Cummings, as Parris, is bland and overly-sincere, the movie
contains what is considered to be Ronald Reagan's finest screen performance (not that the competition had been that
keen) and Ann Sheridan is an immensely warm and lovely presence. The film belongs, however, to it's amazing
supporting cast, comprised of some of Hollywood's finest character players: Betty Field, touching as the frightened
and disturbed Cassie; the wonderful Claude Rains, beautifully underplaying as Cassie's sad, troubled father; Maria
Ouspenskaya, characteristically cast as Parris' wise and loving grandmother; and, in particular, Nancy Coleman as
the hysterical Louise, the sexually repressed daughter of religious fanatics (Charles Coburn and Judith Anderson). The
memorable score, by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, adds immeasurably to the mood.
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 10/10
Still packs a wallop!
wbe312 December 2005
One of my ten
favorite films of all time -- easily one of the top three -- is this classic Warners drama.

My hobby is
collecting 16mm prints. On summer evenings, I enjoy hosting screenings in my back yard for my friends and friends of
friends. One never knows how people will react to a 1940s black and white drama starring a cast of (save RR, to
today's generation) unknowns and shot on a studio back lot. But nobody stirred for the 2+ hours. All eyes remained
glued to the screen. And when the screen finally went dark, the entire crowd broke into a loud applause.

I
love the films produced by Warners in the 1930s and 40s. How can you not enjoy the nostalgia of seeing Bogey or Cagney
or Edward G. Robinson, watching Paul Henreid light a cigarette for Bette Davis? But the reality is that only a small
percentage of those films hold up in their entirety today as they did when first released. Sixty years on, Kings Row
hasn't aged a bit.
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Unconquerable
Americus Rocco15 May 2006
For those who delight in exploring the underside of the weave, it
might be of interest to know, if you don't already, that the lines of poetry that Parris "spouts" to
Drake at the e

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George Washington Slept Here (1942) Xvid 1cd - Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan [DDR]	1 Year+ - in Movies	701.28 MB	0	0
George Washington Slept Here (1942) DVD5 Uncomp - Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan [DDR]	1 Year+ - in Movies	4.37 GB	0	0
Peggy Noonan - When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan [unabridged]	1 Year+ - in Other	1.27 GB	3	12

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